


Complicated Freak

by tomlindone28



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Balcony Scene, Bottom Louis, But not Harry/Louis they're soft it's Louis' previous relationship, Domestic Violence, Endgame Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Harry Styles Loves Louis Tomlinson, Hurt Louis, I love them both so much what the heck, Louis Deserves Better, Louis Tomlinson/Original Male Character - Freeform, Louis is a mentor for foster youth, M/M, Oblivious Louis Tomlinson, Pining Louis, Protective Harry Styles, Quote: They kind of share that really (One Direction), Strangers to Lovers, Top Harry, harry is an artist, versatile
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:40:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22582657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomlindone28/pseuds/tomlindone28
Summary: "Please don't jump!" Harry panics, anxiously watching the brunette boy as his small legs swung carelessly over the railing of his balcony."Lad, it's tempting but I'm just enjoying the view." Louis explains, lifting his middle finger at Harry before grinning.An abundance of scintillating stars littered the sky that night, but at this very moment Harry wholeheartedly believed that nothing in the universe could compare to the beauty of the blue eyed boy who was, despite his reassurance, indeed about to jump.***in which harry styles is stuck house sitting for his friend zayn and learns a little too much about his neighbor, specifically that the boy is way too comfortable on that balcony, bruises don't suit him and neither does the prick who inflicts them.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Kudos: 43





	1. Flicker

**Author's Note:**

> ~Hi y'all! I hope you enjoy this chapter of Complicated Freak! It's my first Larry Fanfiction so I'd love some feedback if possible. Every chapter will be named after a song title just for a bit of fun. Lots of love! ~Kayla~

Harry was never a stranger to kindness.

The concept of indecency unless provoked never even seemed to cross his mind. It was a character trait that while growing up would simultaneously benefit his ability to make genuine friends, but also eventually lead to his own demise. It is an injustice to truly believe that acceptance is a possibility when ignorant people are not willing to alter their perspectives due to their own sick pride. He had to learn that the hard way.

Life; however, is very much a stranger to kindness. Despite the remaining pure souls striving to make the world a better place there is rarely a flicker of hope in the darkness that consumes the heart with no remorse. Most people are reluctant to conclude that you must be just as stone cold as life is in order to make it in this day and age, but the reality almost always dawns upon them soon enough. The world does not cease to turn even when it loses what we deem as angels.

Harry always believed that it was human nature to want to love with every aspect of our being, but even he knows that the idea of love is far more promising than that of the truth. The hand we long to hold is often the same hand that takes grip of a knife before stabbing it through your back. Perhaps, that is why loving one another is no longer effortless.

It must be why often times the best people are the most deprived of love.

Toughening up is what kept him from falling a victim to his emotions. He hadn't allowed this reality to bother him, he was actually pretty quick to accept it and endure rather than dwell over something he could not change. But, it did begin to irk him when he first heard the aggressive shouts from the house next door. Zayn, of course, had mentioned that his neighbors could be loud before Harry had agreed to house sitting for him, but he didn't warn him not to intervene.

So there he was, stood in front of said neighbors chaotic home and rolling his eyes at the consistent one sided arguing. He set his gaze upon their pastel blue front door, the white trim was beginning to grey and the paint was peeling off in various directions. There's no sign of a welcome mat and he finds the irony of it poetic in a sense. There was nothing welcoming about the domestics taking place behind this door. Nonetheless, he shrugs off his annoyance and lifts his right hand to assertively knock on their door, hissing when a stray splinter penetrates the skin of one of his knuckles. Harry groans inwardly once the yelling stops abruptly, fully prepared to lash out on whoever opens the door for him. That is until it squeaks open and reveals someone Harry could never even imagine raising his voice at.

The boy eases his way past the doorway and shuts the door behind him only to lean his back against it and look up at Harry expectantly. He's significantly smaller than him, probably just barely standing at a height of 5'8 on a good day. One could only describe him as mix between boyish and rugged, his features are sharp and defined but his eyes appear soft. Harry doesn't recall ever having a favorite or least favorite color, but as the smaller boy fixates his stare upon his own he's certain that blue is now his preference while the purple reaching from the corner of his left eye to his cheekbone is a color he never wants to see taint his olive skin again.

"Oops!" Harry exclaims, prying his eyes away from the stranger's own to scratch the back of his neck anxiously due to the embarrassment of being caught staring.

"Hi. Can I help you, sir?" The smaller lad asks, a confused look becoming prominent as his eyebrows furrow to exaggerate his question. His voice is delicate but sure, a contrast Harry finds himself wanting to record and play on a loop in order to convey his fondness.

"Uh yeah, actually" Harry clears his throat, shaking away his prior thoughts "you see I hate to make a noise complaint, but the yelling is really getting to be a bit too much to ignore. I'm assuming you weren't the one causing all of the racket, yeah?"

"Course I wasn't. My roommate doesn't have an inside voice, but I'll ask him to tone it down a bit." He nods, rushing to return to the comfort of his doorway but only to halt in his tracts after Harry captures his small wrist in his grasp.

"May I speak with him myself?" He requests, hoping to get the chance to meet the infamous cause of the commotion. Harry gingerly releases his hand, allowing the brunette the freedom to leave him standing alone at their doorstep if he so chooses. However, the boy instead sighs before glancing over his shoulder, shaking his head in frustration before opening the door and calling the name, "Lukas" twice before finally receiving an irritated "coming!" in return. Harry offers him a small smile as a sign of thanks, but he simply ignores it. Harry can recognize the shuffling behind the door as a furious attempt at cleaning up discarded bottles of what he presumes may be various types of alcohol. A few moments pass before the man is standing before us; his dark hair disheveled and his clothes creased. He's got a relatively attractive appearance to him, but Harry is much more enticed by the smaller boy who's name he still hadn't managed to acquire.

"Go back inside, Louis." Lukas commands the smaller boy with a glare. The boy quickly turns on his feet to obey, but Harry moves to cease him with a gentle hand upon his right shoulder to which he flinches in response. He rushes to retract his hand and apologize for startling him but hesitates; consequently, he finds his hand being swatted away by Lukas.

"Hands to yourself." He warns in a gruff tone, causing Harry to raise my both of his hands away in mock surrender. Harry risks a sideways glance at the blue eyed boy, Louis, and his heart sinks at the sight of the boy bowing his head in submission and fear.

"You might want to follow your own advice." Harry snarls, slightly squaring his shoulders up to prove that he was not here to play games.

"What are you implying?'" Lukas rolls his eyes.

"He's quite beautiful isn't he?" Harry provokes as an attempt to change the subject, Louis looks at him in confusion and if Harry didn't know any better he'd believe it was possibly the first time Louis had heard someone call him 'beautiful' before.

"Beautiful? If only! It'd make living with his pathetic self a bit more bearable." Lukas laughs, pulling said boy into his side roughly. The thought of all the lies he must feed the smaller boy behind closed doors physically gives Harry an urge to vomit. He can just about feel the burning sensation of the bile rising in his throat, but decides to stomach it.

"Listen man, I'm not here to save the day. Just stop screaming at the top of your lungs and we won't have a problem, yeah?" Harry suggests, wanting nothing more than to leave the pair and carry on with his own life. Of course he felt remorse for even considering leaving the boy with his abuser, but he was not planning to let his emotions overshadow his sense of reason. The situation was none of his concern, that being proven by the fact that these two weren't even his own neighbors. Harry figured that if he could prevent himself from having to hear their disputes, perhaps he could also prevent himself from caring as much.

"I'm gonna assume you're the guy who's house sitting for Zayn... Harry, right? It's too bad Lou and I quite like him, otherwise I'd already have kicked your ass the second you laid a hand on my dear roomie here." The bastard smirks, altering his hold on the boy to an intimidatingly tight headlock.

"Lukas, quit it." Louis whines, attempting to pry himself away from the degrading hold but to no avail is proven hopeless.

"Ah babes, what's the magic word? Oh I see, wouldn't want our guest to know you're a little b-"

"He told you to stop." Harry seethes, blood rising to it's boiling point.

"I'm handling this just fine, thank you." Louis sasses, squirming in obvious discomfort.

"You heard the boy, now get lost. We're super busy," Lukas grins, pinching Louis' cheek, "aren't we Loui-"

All of his prior rationality has vanished as Harry harshly stomps on Lukas' right foot, bare and unprepared for his attack. He instantly releases the boy from his grip, hurriedly checking his foot for any apparent injuries all the while muttering out a string of curses. Harry quickly ushers Louis away from the scene, managing to get him just about to Zayn's front doorstep only for him to pull himself away from his helping hand. Harry quirks an eyebrow at his resistance and begins to ponder of what might have made Louis so hesitant to leave someone so negative behind, but then it hits him.

He's proper terrified.

"I know I'm just a stranger, but please come with me and I'll make sure he leaves you alone." Harry assures him, gesturing for him to follow him inside. He thankfully cooperates; however, he's obviously doing so only for the sense of security Harry has foolishly promised. Harry gently shuts the door upon their entry, turning towards Louis only to watch intently as he answers his phone practically before it even begins to ring.

"Baby I-I no of course- I know you didn't mean it, you're not angry with me though?" He questions into the phone lowly, trying to prevent Harry from hearing his conversation despite their close proximity. Harry can faintly decipher the voice of Lukas' likely attempting to persuade Louis to return home. He rolls his eyes at the audacity, but settles for holding out his hand for Louis to hand him the phone instead. Louis shakes his head stubbornly, only becoming more invested in his call.

"I'm so sorry my love, I-I'll come home right now. You're right, I shouldn't have run from you." He continues, gripping onto his phone tightly and looking genuinely upset with himself. Harry reaches out to ease the phone from his possession, to which he finally allows after an unspoken debate.

"Thank you, sweets. Why would I ever want to hurt you? I'm glad that we can agree that it was your mistake for making me so angry in the first place. Just come home now so we can make up, yeah? I don't like being mad at you."

"He's not going back tonight. You'd better consider yourself fortunate that I haven't called the police yet." Harry states, scoffing when Lukas snorts.

"Mind your business asshole. Give the phone back to Louis before I come and get him myself."

"I'm sure the cops would hate to see all of the bruises you gave him, not to mention the fact that you reek of alcohol... I'm sure they'd believe anyone over your drunk ass right about now." Harry laughs, watching Louis' eyes anxiously shift from his to the ground.

"Fine. Have fun being his bodyguard, let him know me and Amelia will hold down the fort until he decides to grow a pair and come back."

With that the call ends and Harry silently hands the phone back to Louis, noting that his screensaver is a picture of Lukas smiling at the camera with a look of what one may only interpret as fondness.

"I-I appreciate your concern, but I need to go home. It was a misunderstanding, thank you for being so kind thou-"

"Do you really think that was a misunderstanding?" Harry interrupts, slowly approaching the boy.

"Of course not. But, I deserved it. I need to go, excuse me." He attempts to stride past him, but Harry gently grabs his hand and turns him towards himself. Louis' eyes are glazed over and he's trembling ever so slightly.

"Do you actually want to go home?" Harry questions, hoping to change his mind without forcing him to.

"No." Louis whispers, quickly wiping away a stray tear.

"It'll be okay." Harry tries to assure him, taking his other hand and silently trying to comfort him with the action.

"Will it!?" Louis exclaims, "Because, I-I know for a fact that he will win in the end. Y-You can't pro-promise that I'll be okay without meaning it, I'm sorry but you just can't! Lukas doesn't even bat an eye when he's being threatened, me being h-here right now is keeping me from th-the little security I actually have as his lo-lover. He'll hurt me if I don't go home." He chokes out, breathlessly yanking his hands away from Harry's hold and wiping his tears away before they can fall freely.

"He'll hurt you if you do go home." Harry sighs, not understanding how Louis could want to return to someone who would only use him as a punching bag.

"Yes, but at least it'll hurt less because I'm complying." He explains calmly, as if it's an obvious fact that Harry was missing.

"He shouldn't be hurting you at all."

"Listen to me, Harry. That's your name right? It's not your concern, I love him." A hesitant smile working it's way upon his lips for emphasis. He begins to walk towards the front door, preparing himself to return home.

"How?" Harry asks, now fully aware that Louis wasn't going to stay with him as he'd hoped.

"It's complicated," He shrugs, hand now resting on the door knob and his eyes focused straight ahead, "if it makes me a freak so be it. Thank you for trying to take care of me Harry, but he's always going to win."

With that he leaves. The house. The safety. Harry.

For some reason it doesn't sit well with him.  
It wasn't his business, but it felt like it was.

He was going to be injured almost instantly after he returned home, but Harry was the one who was going to allow it.  
So who was really the idiot here?

Not Harry.

"LOUIS WAIT!"


	2. Defenceless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gets to know more about Louis and his relationship with Lukas. He’s not happy about it.
> 
> ⚠️⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING!! ⚠️ ⚠️  
> This chapter contains strong language and heavily addresses abuse, please understand that I have no intention of romanticizing domestic violence and I would never wish these scenarios upon anyone. This is purely for plot purposes, but I also would like to express that I would never write about a topic that I didn’t know the true weight of. If you are uncomfortable with graphic depictions/references of/to violence, please do not read this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow me on Twitter if you want: @tomlindone28
> 
> I hope y’all enjoy the chapter, please leave your thoughts so I can know if y’all would like for me to continue this fanfiction! Lots of love! ~Kayla~

"LOUIS WAIT!" Harry exclaims, successfully managing to stop the boy in his tracks.

"Har-" Before Louis can finish speaking, Harry is closing the distance between them, wrapping his arms around Louis' smaller frame and capturing him in a warm embrace. Although the boy stills in his hold with pure confusion, Harry can register the exact moment that all of the prior tension diminishes and Louis' shoulders begin to shake in a silent attempt not to cry.

"Maybe you're right. I can't promise you that he won't win in the end, but I can promise you that I won't let him win today. I'm not willingly allowing you to walk back into that house right now, understood?" Harry's tone is assertive, but nowhere near forceful.

If Louis was to decline his help once again, Harry would honestly have no choice but to let him go back home. The truth was that he had no real authority over him, even Louis knew that, but pretending that Harry does would give him every reason to comply. Which is what they both really wanted.

"Okay." He whispers, his once rigid stance now faltering as he hides in face in Harry's shoulder and begins to sob violently.

Harry can feel his own defenses begin to falter as he holds him.

***

"Sorry if this place is too quiet for you, I just thought a change of scenery and some food might be nice." Harry explains, awkwardly gesturing around the relatively empty diner. 

Louis offers a soft smile before shaking his head, "Don't apologize, I like quiet."

"Good." Harry responds before allowing himself to fall back into a comfortable silence.

The diner had become somewhat of a rest stop for travelers and truckers, it wasn't exactly aesthetically pleasing in any sense, but most customers only desire food and silence. Which is exactly what they got. 

It was refreshing in a way. 

The booths were an awful bright shade of red and the multicolored tables were not very sturdy, Harry almost feels bad for bringing Louis here of all places.

Louis; however, seemed thrilled. 

Harry watches intently as Louis curiously takes in his surroundings, he was a great person to just sit and admire what he was like. Harry found himself wanting to know as much about the boy as Louis would allow him to. 

He wanted to understand that child like glimmer in Louis' eyes, wanted to know if he had a job or if he was in university, he wanted to know if he had siblings, he wanted to know if he was a cat or a dog person, he so desperately wanted to know what is was about the boy that made Harry so interested. 

"Hello, I'm Gale I'll be serving you today. Are you two ready to order or would you like a bit of time to look over the menu some more?" A kind looking older woman interrupts Harry's thoughts. Louis apologizes and hurriedly begins to look over the menu bashfully. 

Harry grants a polite smile to the waitress and requests some extra time to decide. She nods and excuses herself to clear another table. Louis' eyebrows are knit together in frustration and he's mumbling to himself about avocados. 

"Did you want to get an avocado on toast or something?" Harry questions, hoping that Louis would offer even the slightest insight on what was going on in his head.

"Not a fuckin' chance." He groans, shaking his head in mock disgust before finally making eye contact with Harry. His eyes widen and he sinks back into his seat almost instantly. It's obvious that he's suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"What is it, Louis?" Harry asks, not wanting to assume anything but internally knowing exactly what happened. 

"I-I didn't mean to curse at you, I'm sorry." He bows his head, blinking rapidly to avoid tears and failing. Harry rushes to the other side of the booth, reaching his hand up to help him stop the tears. Louis flinches for a split second before allowing Harry to do just what he intended. 

Harry was angry, but he knew now wasn't the time to show it. He wasn't angry at Louis, but he was seething at the fact that Lukas had instilled such immense fear in Louis' psyche.

"Hey, it's okay. Look at me. I'm not him." Harry reminds him, causing Louis to finally meet his eyes again, he nods in understanding before shying away from his touch.

"I-I'm sorry about the waterworks mate. I'm still a bit shaken up I guess, uh, Lukas hates when I curse so I try not to slip up like that anymore." He explains, wiping away the remains of his tears.

Harry knows better than to push him to open up to him right now, so he decides not to press any further. But, not before adding his two cents of course. 

"Well, if it's any consolation I think you sound perfectly fucking fine saying whatever the fuck you want." Harry states matter-of-factly, returning to his seat on the opposite side of the booth. 

Louis is now openly gaping, watching in utter disbelief as Harry casually skims through his menu while humming innocently. One would never guess that he had just dropped two f-bombs.

"Harry?" Louis sniffles.

"Yes?"

"Did you just curse?"

"I believe I did."

"Twice?"

"Look at you being a mathematician, pretty boy." Harry teases, reveling in the way Louis' cheeks flush at the nickname. 

"You just don't seem like someone who curses..." Louis starts, "More like someone who'd reprimand me for it." 

"Would you like that, pretty boy?" Harry smirks, noticing the way Louis' eyes widen almost comically.

"I-uh, no... what?" 

"So, would you like that fucking avocado on toast?" Harry grins.

"Fuck no." Louis pouts, flipping through his forgotten menu and finally seeing some options that he could enjoy.

"Well why the fuck not?" Harry questions playfully, not realizing that the waitress had just returned to check on them until she gasps at Harry's vulgar language. 

Harry is completely dumbstruck and Louis is doing his best to maintain a straight face as he takes in the sight of the disappointed older woman. 

"Sorry for the wait love, I'm just gonna go ahead and have a Yorkshire Tea and a blueberry bagel, if that's alright with you?" Louis politely interrupts, effectively snapping Gale and Harry out of their trance.

"Oh- OH! Of course dear, you sure that's all you'd like today? You're so small, we wouldn't want the wind taking you." She gushes, obviously more fond of Louis' cute tone than Harry's vulgarity.

"That's all for today darling, thank you. What about you Harry, have you decided what you'd like?" Louis flutters his eyelashes, almost tempting Harry to challenge him. 

"Oh um," Two could play at this game, "Can I get a water and an avocado on toast, please?" Harry asks smugly, risking a quick glance at Louis' unamused face.

"Okay. Will that be all?" Gale questions, quickly writing his order down on her small notepad.

"Can you go ahead and add another avocado on toast, I'd like my sweet friend here to give it a try." 

"Aw, you got it! I'll have that out real soon!" Gale exclaims, excited that Harry had brought the focus back to Louis once again. She rushes back to the counter and hands the written order to someone in the kitchen.

"You better enjoy those two fucking avocado toasts, because I'm not fucking eating them. Just have a cup of tea, it's like them fucking avocados..." Louis seethes, now that the waitress was out of earshot.

"You are definitely having a bite. You owe me for not fucking warning me that the poor woman was nearby, I probably traumatized her." Harry whispers.

Louis feels a smile working it's way onto his face and before he can stop himself he's bursting into an abrupt fit of giggles. 

Harry can't fight back the goofy grin that crawls upon his lips, so he rolls his eyes instead to make his 'annoyance' evident.

"I-I'm so sorry." Louis snorts, trying hopelessly to regain his composure. 

"You're kind of evil, you know that?" Harry chuckles, shaking his head as Louis continues to acknowledge his amusement. 

"I'm quite aware, thank you for noticing." 

"So, what's wrong with avocados?" Harry asks, shuddering when Louis' face suddenly changes. Great job, Harry. Great job. 

"Trendiest food of all time." Louis explains.

Harry is for lack of better words: confused.

"It's like if I have an avocado and tag it in me picture like, you know what I mean, obviously I'm a boyo." Louis continues, not making even the slightest bit of sense to Harry. 

"Louis."

"They do piss me off avocados." Louis adds, clearly getting riled up at the thought.

"WHY?" Harry questions, genuinely concerned about Louis' logic.

"I bet you like it don't ya?" Louis sighs, tone laced with judgement. 

"T-That's what I have most mornings." Harry admits, still not understanding why Louis felt so passionate about his distaste for avocados. 

"Aww Haz, c'mon lad." Louis groans, throwing his head back in exasperation. Harry's ego grows a bit with the new nickname.

"I refuse to believe that you dislike avocados solely because they're trendy. I demand the truth." Harry concludes, crossing his arms over his chest in denial.

"Fine," Louis decides, mimicking Harry's stance, "But, you have to promise me that you won't pity me." 

"I mean it dep-"

"Harry." Louis scolds, extending his pinky finger towards Harry. Harry nods, interlocking his own pinky with Louis'. 

"So, me and Lukas have been dating for about 3 years now and obviously things have gotten more difficult as time has gone by. But, I love him. I still try to impress him even though I know most of my attempts are in vain." Louis starts, halting the conversation momentarily when Gale brings them their drinks and tells them that their food will be out soon. 

"He used to love breakfast in bed. So, this one time I got all dressed up for him as a bit of a joke... maid outfit and all because I thought he'd think it was funny or that he'd even think I looked pretty..." 

Harry can feel his heart beat in his ears, he knows that this isn't going to be a good story.

"I served him fresh fruit, yogurt, orange juice, and avocado toast even though I really do think it's trendy and stupid. He was half asleep at first and so happy that I took the time to prepare it for him, but then he saw what I was wearing. H-He said the food was gross and that I looked pathetic... he wanted me to take it off but I wouldn't because he made me feel self-conscious." 

Harry considers telling Louis that he can stop now, but he doesn't. He doesn't pity him, he acknowledges how strong he is but it doesn't make him want to fight Lukas' any less. 

"So then he grabbed that fucking avocado toast and shoved it in my face... he smeared it on my costume so I'd take it off, but I just couldn't believe that he had literally thrown my hard work in my face like that. I got up from the ground so quick and started to pack my shit, he asked me to clean the mess up and I ignored him. I was going to leave him." Louis scoffs at the thought, blowing on his piping hot tea to slowly cool it down. 

"He broke three of my ribs that day." 

Harry's heart stops. Or at least it feels like it does. He can't tell the difference at the moment.

"He wouldn't let me go to the hospital for five days and by the time I got there I had to wait to be seen for hours. I had delayed internal bleeding and they said it could've been life threatening if I hadn't come in sooner. The doctors acted like they didn't understand how I had sat in silent pain for that long, but they knew. They knew I was being abused, but they couldn't do anything because I lied through my teeth and said I fell down the stairs. Fuck, I protected that bastard when he almost costed me my lie and he never once apologized for it. I had never been so defenceless, Harry."

Gale brings their food to them at that exact moment and Harry feels sick to his stomach. He wants to vomit because his plate has two pieces of avocado toast on it and he feels like the biggest asshole on the planet for it. 

"Harry, you can eat it. I just associate it with trauma. Please don't pity me, you promised." Louis whispers, looking at Harry pleadingly. Harry fights every instinct to gag as he cuts off a piece of the toast and eats it right in front of Louis.

"Thank you, Harry." Louis smiles, genuinely grateful that Harry hadn't let taste in food alter for his sake. 

"They are stupidly trendy to be fair." Harry decides, watching Louis take a bite of his bagel.

"Fucking right they are." Louis giggles.

***

The ride home was dreadful, not because the boys felt awkward but because they knew what was awaiting them upon their return.

Lukas would try to convince Louis to come home. Louis' phone was shut off, but he knew he would have tons of missed calls from his boyfriend. Harry couldn't force Louis to stay with him tonight, but he hoped that he would consider it.

"Are you scared?" Harry asks, even though he knows he shouldn't.

"Yes, but I have to face him sooner or later." Louis shrugs, eyes deprived of any hope.

"Please stay with me tonight. Zayn's house has an extra room, if you don't want to sleep we can watch a movie or bake a fucking cake, Louis for God's sake please don't walk back into that house with him." Harry pleads, eyes watering without his permission.

"You're so good, Harry. You're just so fucking kind, I'm sorry that I got you involved in this." Louis turns to face Harry from the passenger seat, seeing his red rimmed eyes in their full glory.

"Just walk into the house with me. Please." Harry's crying now, he doesn't know why, but his defenses are crumbling apart. Harry had gotten so good at hiding his emotions, because he was tired of being taken advantage of, yet here he was begging for someone to just use him. He needed Louis to take advantage of him, but he knew he wouldn’t. 

“Louis, I promised that I’d keep you safe tonight. I won’t be able to sleep if you don’t let me do that.” Harry knows it’s a low blow, but he says it anyways. He needs to keep Louis safe even if it’s just for tonight. This guy was a stranger just hours ago, but Harry couldn’t care less about the fact that he didn’t even know his last name yet. 

“Tonight. That’s it.” Louis agrees, feeling Harry’s instant relief fill the air as he wipes his tears away.

“We’re here.” Harry notifies Louis, parking the car and unbuckling his seatbelt. 

“He’s here too.” Louis informs Harry with a pained smile, pointing at his infuriated boyfriend who was sitting on the front steps to Zayn’s house and now staring at the car. 

“I’m going to kill him.” Harry reassures Louis, causing him to snort in response.

“How are you going to protect me from a jail cell?” 

“I have connections.” Harry sasses, hopping out of the car and opening the other passenger door for Louis to exit as well.

“LOUIS WILLIAM TOMLINSON!” Lukas yells, startling the boy not even two seconds upon arriving.

“Hi.” Louis waves.

Harry grabs his arm and gently guides him towards the front door with him, Louis keeps his head down as they begin to pass Lukas. 

“Lou-“ Lukas reaches out to grab Louis’ arm and Harry loses it. 

“Back the fuck away from him, I’ll call the police!” Harry yells, smacking Lukas’ hand away and getting in his face. He can recall the story from earlier haunting him as his aggression boils beneath his skin. 

He broke three of my ribs that day.

“Harry, stop.” Louis’ frightened voice snaps Harry back into reality. 

“Wow Louis, did you screw him already? He does know that I’m your boyfriend, right??” Lukas spits, his face getting red with rage as Harry stares him down. 

“We actually went out for food. Had some avocado on toast, it was fucking lovely. You wouldn’t understand. Harry, do you mind handing me the keys to the door?” Louis says sweetly, putting up an obvious front but Lukas is effectively stunned. 

Harry wordlessly hands him the keys and Louis says he’ll meet him inside, but not before adding:  
“Oh and tell Amelia that I said hello, I won’t be coming home tonight anyways so she’s welcome to sleep with you.” With that he enters the house without sparing another glance.

“Listen here, curly. He’s deluded, I’ve never hit him. D-Don’t touch him. He’s not thinking straight!” Lukas exclaims, he looks dumbfounded, but also intimidated.

“No. You listen. I actually believe he’s finally thinking straight for the first time in a while.” Harry pats Lukas’ chest with disgust, leaving him in pure shock as he enters the house and locks the front door behind him. 

“Loui-“ Harry begins to call out, only to be engulfed in a hug from the smaller boy, whose full name he had finally come to obtain. 

“I believe you said we’d bake a fucking cake.” Louis jokes, he’s crying and his voice is slightly muffled by Harry’s chest. But, Harry knows Louis’ proud of himself. 

“I am a man of my word.” Harry smiles, contently wrapping his arms around Louis’ smaller frame as a nonverbal agreement because he was proud of Louis too.


End file.
